The Effects of a Virtual World
by TheRocket127
Summary: Kirbopher is in a team that confront hackers in a game called TOME, a virtual reality video game. But things take a turn for the worst when he is fired from the team. After a talk with one of his team mates, he starts liking someone more than he ever thought he would. TOME: Terrain of Magical Expertise belongs to Chris Niosi, not me.
1. Kirbopher's Conflict

**All characters and TOME belong to Chris "Kirbopher" Niosi. I had to change things up a bit so I could make it a little better, like Alpha doesn't like Flamey and Flamey doesn't like Alpha in this story, so don't say I got anything wrong, I did it on purpose. (Except for spelling errors, THAT I would get wrong.) **

_April 11th, 2020_

It was the year 2020, and a new virtual reality game called TOME has quickly become the most popular video game of it's time. You could design your own character, add your own special powers, and more! But the game has a problem with hackers, who love tearing apart graphics, spamming, and causing chaos where it is prohibited. So a group of strong fighters were hired to stop the hackers anywhere on the TOME landscape. Those members included Alpha, Flamey, Kirbopher, Gamecrazed, and Nylocke. Alpha, being the strongest and most popular, was selected leader of the team, he had to plan everything that they did, and he could hire, and fire team mates. Ever since the success of this team, many teams have been created on the same server, and other servers. But Alpha was told to do something he would regret. He had to make a brave decision.

LAVENDERA:

Kirbopher was walking through the purple rocks of Lavendera, the part of TOME were you didn't need battle grids to battle with. Kirbopher was a guy who looked to have fun in a game, he never wanted to long-distance date anyone, or cause trouble, he only looked for fun. He was really bored at that moment, and he wanted to fight somebody, like a hacker. Although he is great at getting rid of hackers, he was the weakest of the team, but he didn't care, he wouldn't really mind if anyone called him weak, he did, after all, beat a little more than 600 players. He had just gotten back from beating some "Chumps" as he likes to call them. He walked around some more until he received a message, *BEEP* *BEEP* "Huh, a message from Alpha." Kirbopher said as he opened the message. [Hey Kirb! It's Alpha! Meet us at ;Mechcity anytime ok?] Then Kirbopher wrote; [I'll be there.] Kirbopher pressed send and walked to Mechcity.

MECHCITY:

"Hey Kirb!" Alpha said. "What's up? Anything knew with the hackers?" Kirbopher asked. Alpha looked nervous. "Y-Yeah, we got something. L-Let's got to the building!" 'What's up with him?' Kirbopher thought. As they arrived to the rooftop of the building, the whole team was there. Kirbopher greeted his friends an team mates and sat down on a seat. "So, what's the case with those hacks?" Kirbopher asked. Alpha started to shake nervously. "W-Well Kirb, we don't have a hacking case..." Alpha said. "Then, why are we here?" Everyone shook except for Kirbopher. Flamey didn't want to say anything because it would make her feel guilty, even though she usually makes fun of Kirb, and Kirb makes fun of Flamey. Alpha tried to tell Kirbopher the news in the nicest way possible. "Well, we got this new recruit, and he's very strong, and, we have to let go of the weakest one in, the, t-team..." Alpha said. Kirbopher then knew what he meant. "Mm... You're..." Kirbopher stuttered. 'They can't be firing me!' Kirbopher thought. "W-What..." Kirb stuttered. "I'm sorry Kirb, but the Webmaster felt ve-" "No..." Kirb stood up and slowly walked backwards. "You're... firing me..." Kirbopher said. "Look, I didn't want to d-" "Shut up." Kirbopher said in a loud tone. "Kirb! Calm down!" Flamey snapped. "Fuck off! you think it would be better if you get a better guy to replace me huh?" Kirb said. "We don't WANT to repla- t-take you off the team! The Webmaster just told us too take out the wea-" "Dude! I need the money!" "Well, we-" "Don't talk to me. Ever Again." Kirbopher said just before he ran away. " Kirb! Wait!" Alpha yelled. Flamey felt very bad for Kirb, which was unusual. "*Sigh* Damn, he's hurt." Alpha said. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him Alpha." Flamey said. "Thanks." Alpha said just as Flamey left the rooftop.

LAVENDERA:

Kirbopher sat on a purple rock of ;Lavendera and looked at the sky. He still thought about what happened in ;Mechcity. He was really sad, he lost his job, AND his friends. "Kirb!" Someone yelled from a distance. Kirbopher looked back to see who it was, and he saw Flamey running his way. 'Can't they leave me?' Kirb thought. Kirbopher stood and and tried to walk away but Flamey caught up with him. "Kirb, please listen." Flamey said. Just before Kirbopher was about log off Flamey stopped him by grabbing him by the shoulder. "Look, we don't want you to leave," Flamey said as Kirbopher tried to get out of Flamey's grip. "We want you as a friend more than a team mate, and I hope you find something that gets you feeling better." That sentence suprised Kirbopher. Flamey saying she wants him to feel better? Kirbopher started to get a funny feeling, like if he started to like her more than he did before, and he was never really her friend. "O-Ok, I'll , uh, come back tomorrow to talk to everyone." Kirbopher said. "That's great, see ya later Kirb." Flamey said as she went back to ;Mechcity. Kirbopher thought about what happened in ;Mechcity for a little bit, and maybe Flamey was right. Maybe his friends disagreed with Webmaster's decision but couldn't do anything about it. Then Kirbopher thought of what Flamey said. He started getting that funny feeling again. He tried to think of something else until he checked the time. 'Boy, look at the time, got to go.' Kirbopher thought before he logged off.

REAL WORLD:

Christopher went to bed after he turned off the "TOME Virtual Reality System" (TVRS). He thought about what job he should get, but he couldn't really think of anything. If anything did come to mind, he would scrap that idea anyway. He felt sad, but hopefully he would feel better the next day. Although something bugged him more than losing his job. He wasn't sure what it was, but he tried to ignore it.


	2. That Feeling Again

_April 11th, 2020_

REAL WORLD:

Chris woke up feeling drowsy, almost forgetting about yesterday when he ate breakfast. "*Sigh*, damn, I remember yesterday." Chris said. He then thought about Flamey again, why was he thinking about her? Was it because she was nice to him? He wasn't sure. ''Why am I feeling this way?'' Chris thought out loud while blushing a little. 'Am I, blushing?' Chris thought. "Maybe some sparring will get my mind off of it." Chris said while he cleaned his dishes and set up the TVRS. Chris lived alone, in a house that was not big, but not really small, something that suited him. Chris put on a headset, he sat on the machine and let the machine take him to the virtual reality. Just then, he noticed he spawned where he last saw Flamey yesterday, in ;Lavendera.

LAVENDERA:

Kirbopher started walking around ;Lavendera to see if anyone wanted to fight him, luckily he found Sniperwheel, a robot player who loves calling himself the greatest there is in TOME, when really, Kirb defeated him some time ago. " 'EY! SNIPER! COME ON! LET'S GO FOR A ROUND!" Kirbopher shouted. "Eh? Oh! YOU! Alright, let's go." Sniperwheel said. "So, ya want a battlegrid or not?" Sniperwheel asked. "Nah, let's just fight witho-" Sniperwheel had prepared a cannon and shot at Kirbopher but Kirb used his sword to deflect the attack and then he jumped towards Sniper and slashed him with his sword. Just then, Kirb and Sniper heard explosions and shouting coming their way. Kirbopher knew it was a hacker fighting the team he was fired from. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be fightin' with 'em?" Sniper asked. Kirbopher frowned before giving him an unnecessary punch in the face and running away. "OW! What the hell man!" Sniper yelled. Kirbopher hid behind a rock to watch the fight. Part of him wanted to watch the circus burn, but he mostly wanted to see who the new recruit was. Alpha threw a punch at the hacker, then the hacker hit him hard, knocking Alpha out. But then, someone else attacked, he seemed to have a robot arm, dark blue hair, and a dark grey skin. His screen name read "Zetto". Zetto's robot arm turned into a machine gun and he shot at the hacker. The hacker was then defeated and the recruit went to see if Alpha was ok. Kirbopher heard their conversation a little bit. "You ok?" Zetto asked. "Nah, I'm fine." Alpha said. 'Well, he has better manners than ME so I'll give him that.' Kirb thought. "What are you doing squire?" Asked a familiar voice. "*Gasp*! What do you want Ny?" Kirb asked in a low tone. "I'm just wondering why you are hiding squire, it is not necessary." Nylocke said. "SHH! Just please, keep it down!" Kirb whispered. "Why is that?" Alpha said from behind. "*Sigh* I, uh, just wanted to see who the new recruit was." "Well, you didn't need to spy on us to do that." Nylocke said. "Shut up." Kirbopher said in an angry mood. Kirbopher stood up and saw Flamey talking to her friends "Saturndiva" and "Whitey". He felt that feeling again! "Mm..." Kirbopher slightly let out. "Uh, Kirb?" Alpha asked. "Uuh, what?" "You, okay there?" "Y-Yeah! *Chuckle* I'm fine! Just, gotta go somewhere that's all!" Kirbopher answered in a shy tone. Kirbopher walked to ;Mechcity with a blushing face at it. Flamey saw Kirb walk away, which made her sad because she thought he was still hurt. Kirbopher was so confused, why was he feeling that way towards her? Was it something she did? Or was it something HE did? He didn't know why, but he felt like laying down somewhere that would relax him.

MECHCITY:

Kirbopher lay on the park bench taking a nap, but he was awaken by his friends. "Hmm?" Kirbopher let out. "Hey Kirb, sorry about yesterday, we really feel bad for you." Alpha said. "It's ok, I don't care anymore." Kirb said. Ok! Great! Anyway, we want you to meet our new recruit. Kirbopher, this is Zetto." Zetto stepped forward and offered a handshake to Kirb. Kirbopher shook his hand. " Hey, nice to meet you Zetto." Kirbopher said. "It's nice to meet you too Kirb." Zetto said in a well-mannered tone. 'Hmm, I can see one reason they picked him.' Kirbopher thought. Kirb then saw Flamey standing next to Gamecrazed. she too saw Kirbopher. They stared at each each other for about 3 seconds before Kirbopher looked away. Flamey still stared at Kirb without him noticing a thing. She studied him for a bit. "So, what are you doin' here Kirb?" Alpha asked. "Oh, nothing, really, just relaxing here in the park." Kirbopher said. "Oh, ok, sorry if I bothered your napping or anything." "Nah, it's ok." "Alright, well, we have some work to do, see ya later Kirb." "Later." The whole team walked away except for Flamey, she still stared at Kirb. She could tell something was wrong. She then left and caught up to the rest of the team, leaving Kirbopher to stare at her. ''Hmm, Do I..." Kirb thought out loud. "No... Can't be." Kirb said. He partially knew he was lying to himself. 'Do I... Like her?' Kirb thought. One half thought yes, the other thought no. "*Sigh*, what the hell is going on with me." Kirbopher said. He then proceeded to taking a 10 minute nap on that bench and then he decided to walk around ;Mechcity. He had nothing to do, so he wanted to see if he could chat with someone. But then, he felt that feeling again. He couldn't take his mind off of Flamey. 'WHY am I thinking about her?' Kirbopher thought. He tried to take his mind off of her, but he couldn't. He seemed to always think of her. Then,he stopped cold. 'I think... I, ' Kirbopher stopped thinking for a little bit. 'Like... her.'


	3. A Little Update

_April 11th, 2020_

MECHCITY:

'NO! No... I can't!' Kirbopher thought. 'WHY AM I FEELING THIS WAY?' He thought. He needed to find something to do that will make him forget about this current state. "I'll go to the Quest Giver, maybe he has a quest that will get my troubles outta here." Kirbopher walked to ;Lavendera to see the Quest Giver.

LAVENDERA:

After a long time of walking, Kirb found the old man. "Why good evening young man!" The Quest Giver said. "Hello there." Kirb said. The Quest Giver studied him for a little bit before noticing something was wrong. "Is there something wrong?" The Quest Giver asked. "N-No..." Kirb said while blushing a bit. "Is there ANYTHING wrong squire? Or are you being a liar?" 'Squire.' Kirbopher thought. 'That, reminds me of someone.' "Umm, hello?" The Quest Giver asked. "Oh, uh, sorry, just thinking of something." Kirbopher responded. "So, what's my quest?" "You seek-eth a monster that is worth lots of points. Your meter will have to reach 100th." The Quest Giver rhymed. 'Oh GOD, I forgot about his horrible rhymes.' Kirbopher thought. "Wait, you said meter, what meter?" Suddenly, a meter appeared hovering on top of Kirb. "Ooooh, so I'm going to have to reach 100 points by beating this monster?" Kirbopher asked. "Why yes young one." "Alright, let's find this monster." Kirbopher said.

**15 Minutes Later...**

"Where IS this thing?" Kirbopher thought out loud while walking in ;Lavendera. He noticed something was not right. The ground seemed to shake a little. Then, a giant beast jumped from behind Kirbopher and attacked him. "AARRGH!" Kirb yelled. He fell to the ground while the beast attacked him. 'DAMMIT! Is this what the Quest Giver wanted me to kill?' Kirb thought. The beast grew claws and threw an attack at Kirb, which he dodged. The beast looked like a giant wolf-looking animal, with an indigo color in its fur. "Alright, you wanna play doggy? Let's play!" Kirbopher said before he took out his sword. Kirb slashed at the beast with his sword, but it only lost a really small amount of health while fur flew out of the beast. And under was even MORE fur. "Damn! This thing's coated with hair!" Kirbopher said. Kirb then used his special move called "Dust Tornado" at the monster. The special attack ripped more hair from the beast, revealing its weak point. "Aha!" 'If I remove the fur, than the skin is exposed! Causing more damage when I attack!' Kirb thought. The beast then threw the same attack as before, actually hitting Kirb this time. "PAH!" Kirb shouted. The attack threw him a long way back. The beast then used its special attack, punching the ground to create shockwaves. Kirbopher dodged two before getting hit by one. "AGH! DAMN!" He shouted. Kirbopher then threw as many slashes at the skin as possible. After minutes of slashing, punching, and dodging attacks, he defeated the beast, an the meter on top of him filled up with points. He walked back to see the Quest Giver so he could collect his experience points. On the way, Kirbopher heard some buddies talk really loud. "So dude, where did you get that new suit of yours?" One of the guys asked. "Oh, that? You could give your character an update anytime you want. You could change the name, add special powers, improve your characters look, or even change it completely!" The other guy said. 'Hmm, you could change your character's look and powers?' Kirb thought. "Time for a little update." Kirbopher said.

REAL WORLD:

After Kirbopher gave the Quest Giver all the points, he received 15 experience points and logged off the game. Chris grabbed a piece of paper and a pen sat down on a chair. He first drew his character on the paper to see what he could update. "Alright, what should I change?" Chris said. He thought he should make his character a little taller so he could feel a little more power. He also changed the suit a bit by changing the material of the suit by giving it the same material a tux has, and by getting rid of the stitched-up look on the suit. He then thought that he should add some more special moves, he then wrote that he would have a strong, silver shield that he could spawn anytime he wanted. He also thought that it would be neat to have a "K" carved into the shield which stands for Kirbopher. He also added a new power called "Elec-Disint" (Stands for Electric-Disintegrator) which is a beam that traveled super-fast and used electricity to damage others. Chris thought about his character stance when he held his sword, maybe he could change it a little. He thought about making his character hold his sword using only his right hand so it could be a little more comfortable than holding it with both hands on one side. And then he thought he should get rid of the sword case and instead use a small sword hilt that would spring out the long blade by a press of a button, and the sword hilt would be carried by a handle on his character's pocket. "Yeah, that's a good idea!" Chris said while picking up his pen. He then drew what Kirbopher would look like with the updates. He then contacted the Netking Company to let him update his character.

SANCTUARY:

Kirbopher walked around ;Sanctuary with a proud feeling at it. He was taller, he had the sword he wanted, and that shield with the "K" on it. He felt like a new person. He felt that he had more power, physically and mentally. The region he was walking in was called ;Sanctuary, which was a part only for social networking. Kirb was not up for that. Maybe sometimes he wanted to chat with someone, but mostly, he wanted to battle. He walked to ;Mechcity to battle someone for pure enjoyment. He found someone. The player was a pesky little brat with a hitting-puberty voice named "Rocket" who had brown hair, white eyes with no pupils, hanging sideburns, black-shiny shoes, black pants, and a black cassock trench coat with a mandarin collar. "Hey kid! Wanna fight?" Kirbopher asked impatiently. "Oh, sure. Um... who are you anyway?" Rocket asked. "Doesn't matter, let's just fight!" "Alright, i'll set up the battlegrid." Rocket set up the battlegrid and got in position. Kirbopher immediately pulled out his sword hilt, sprung out the blade and attacked Rocket, causing him to fall. "Ah! What the hell?!" Rocket yelled. Rocket then spawned two glowing swords that were a purple color. Rocket constantly slashed at Kirb, but he defended with his new sword. He then used his power "Dust Tornado" at Rocket and damaged him. "AH!" He screamed. Rocket's swords then de-spawned and he spawned a machine gun and shot at Kirbopher. 'Oh, you just make me proud to be here.' Kirb thought. He spawned his new shield and blocked all the bullets. The shield then de-spawned and he used his new power "Elec-Disint" at Rocket. "Oh sh-" Rocket was blasted and lost the battle. He fell the the ground in shame. "Damn! That hurt dude!" Rocket said. "WHOO! That was the best fight I have EVER won!" Kirbopher yelled. "Shut up." Rocket said with a bratty mood as he stood up and walked away. Rocket lost 3 Experience points and Kirb earned his experience points. Kirb started to walk around some more looking for some more players to "Bust".


	4. Vigilante Work

_April 12th, 2020_

MECHCITY:

Kirbopher had a new idea, but he knew the Webmaster would not like it. Kirbopher updated his character that morning, and he wanted to fight more with his new features, so he thought of an idea, something he thought would make him feel better. It was afternoon in ;Mechcity, the place was always filled with people walking around, looking at the virtual buildings, noticing how tall they are. That's one thing that Kirbopher always liked about that place, it had amazing buildings, all of them impressed him and all the other players. One building in ;Mechcity was always drawing everybody's attention. It was a building with really shiny windows that you could see your reflection, it had a rectangular shape, and it was 48 stories. That building was where Kirbopher used to work, it was also the "Main attraction" in TOME because it amazed everyone with it's size. Even though there were taller buildings, this one was the tallest when it came out, it was bigger than anything TOME had ever seen. After that, many taller buildings were made, but before they were made it was left the tallest for a while, making it famous. Kind of like the Titanic, it used to be the biggest, but still famous for its size. The building was made so all the teams of anti-hacking could monitor all three regions of TOME in separate floors. The bottom floors would monitor ;Sanctuary, the middle floors would monitor ;Lavendera, and the top floors would monitor ;Mechcity. Kirbopher stood in front of the building, looking up. He then entered the building and took the elevator to where he used to work, the 44th floor, near the top. At the top floor, Alpha's team were monitering ;Mechcity to see if any hackers were roaming TOME. The computer was detecting a hacker but it didn't know where he/she was. The computers detected hackers by having scanners hidden in parts of the region, so every player in TOME are being scanned without knowing a thing. If the computer detected hackers somewhere in TOME but it didn't know where, detectors that was the size of an average human, were hidden behind the buildings of ;Mechcity, if the team triggered them, the machines would borrow the power of the buildings so enough energy would be used to detect the hackers. The elevator reached the 44th floor, opening the door revealing the room. Kirb did not want to be noticed by anyone so he snuck his way through the floor. He reached his old cubicle, which now belonged to Zetto. Kirbopher had completely recovered from his little depression from losing his job. But he still felt a funny feeling when he was around Flamey or if he was thinking of Flamey. "Hello friend." GameCrazed said in his traditional no-emotion voice. "*GASP* Jesus! Keep it down!" Kirb said in a low tone. "I can see that you are trying to hide from everyone." GC said in a boring, dark tone. "You, obviously, know right?" "Yes I do." "Look, I still want to do this, bu-" "But didn't the Webmaster fire you?" "Yeah, I know, I won't get paid for this." "Hey GC! Who are you talking to?" Alpha asked from a distance. 'Damn! He's here!' Kirb thought. Kirbopher slowly stood up and faced Alpha. Alpha wasn't mad at Kirb, but rather surprised. "Kirb! You're here? But I thou-" "That the Webmaster fired me? Yeah yeah everyone's asking me that." Kirbopher said. "Then what are you doing here?" Alpha asked. "I want to fight and ban hackers, but not for the Webmaster." Kirb said. "So, you're not working for this team? You're doing this by yourself?" "Yeah, I am." "So you're going to be doing vigilante work?" "I... never thought of it that way actually!" "But you do know that we are going to have to keep it secret right? Because if the Webmaster finds out, we can get in a LOT of trouble, he'll think that you are forcing yourself back in the team." "I think we should work with Kirb, but keep it secret" Zetto said. " I feel that I will make Webmaster upset, but I have to agree, my job is to help anyone in need in the Terrain of Magical Expertise, so we should work with Kirbohphour." Nylocke said. "IT'S KIR-" "Kirbopher. Forgive me squire." Nylocke said. 'I'm not a DAMN squire.' Kirbopher thought. "I shouldn't be doing this, but, let's work with Kirb." Flamey said. "Mph..." Kirbopher let out in a low volume. 'There it is again!' He thought.

LAVENDERA:

"So, when do we strike huh? PLEASE BE NOW!" "Now would be good." "N-Now?" "Yes, now." "WOOOOOHOOOOOOO! YES! YEESS! SOOO, after this. i'll get my money right?" "Yes you will, now just go!" "Alright, alright. So it's in that, weird city area right?" "Yes, now go." "OOOOK!"

MECHCITY:

"I was thinking that when we find a hacker, my team stay together and you stay somewhere near us so you could help." Alpha said. "That's a good idea." Kirbopher said. "Hey, did you update your character? You're taller!" Alpha asked. "Huh? Oh, yeah I did." "Cool!" "Hey guys! Our computer detects a hacker but it can't find where the player is!" Zetto said. Alpha and Kirb looked at the computer until an alarm sounded. *BEEP* *BEEP *BEEP* BEEP* There was a white flashing light bugging everyone. "What the hell is going on?" Kirb asked. "The building is detecting a virus!" Alpha said. The viruses where virtual bombs placed on the 44th floor, where the team and Kirb was. The bombs exploded and destroyed half of the floor. From the outside, you could see that half of the 44th floor had a massive explosion destroying it. All the players outside heard and saw the explosion, and they started panicking. Fire filled the office, many of the workers on that floor where dead, and a few survivors. GC was injured from the fire, Nylocke was near the explosion and was pushed by the wind (From the blast) and fell near the window, almost falling of the building, and everyone else got pushed by the explosion. Fire filled the room, black smoke was filling the roof, half of the office had an orange light because of the fire, and every player on the floor. Half of the 44th floor was on fire and black smoke was being let out. Everyone in TOME was notified, and they immediately knew it was a hacker's doing.


	5. A New Team

_April 12th, 2020_

MECHCITY:

The 44th floor was on fire, and nothing could put the fire out. Everyone in TOME was either running away from the scene, or barely getting there. Kirbopher, Alpha, Flamey, Nylocke, GC, and Zetto lay on the floor, injured from the explosion. Few other players were in the office, either severely injured or on fire from the explosion. Kirbopher looked around and slowly stood up, like everyone else. "*COUGH* *COUGH* AH... What the f- What happened?" Kirbopher asked. Smoke blurred his vision, he couldn't see anyone or anything. "*COUGH!* H-Hello?" Alpha yelled. "I'm here!" Flamey yelled back. "*COUGH!* PUH!" Kirbopher spit blood onto the floor. The explosion's blast threw Kirbopher against the edge of a table, making him spit blood. "UGH..." Kirbopher grunted in pain. "What's going on?" Alpha asked. "*COUGH* Probably a hacker, you know, kinda like terrorists." Zetto said. "Forgive me, but the computer is flashing!" Nylocke said. Alpha and Zetto rushed to the computer and went to check on it. "It's a miracle it still works!" Alpha said. The computer looked horrible, the image was switching positions and it bugged Alpha a little. "The tracker detects a hacker, but it doesn't know the player's position." Alpha said. "Are Tracker A and B working?" Zetto asked. "Yeah, they are, but we don't have very good connection." Alpha said as Kirbopher walked over to the computer. "We can make the tracker stronger, remember?" Kirbopher said. "Yeah! I forgot! But we have to detach the whole city's batteries and attach them to ours." Alpha said. "Then let's tie the batteries to Tracker A and B." "Alright, I guess, let's do it." Alpha pressed multiple commands to tie the city batteries to Tracker A and B to make them stronger to detect the exact location of the hacker. Both trackers had enough power to find a hacker anywhere in TOME, but sometimes the hacker could have a cloaking device on, hiding their location, so the trackers need more power sometimes, and it uses the city's power. The whole city's power went out, and the emergency lights turned on. When the power went out, people knew it was the anti-hacking team. "Alright, let's see." Alpha said impatiently. The power of the building the team was in went out, obviously it was the batteries tying to Tracker A and Tracker B, but the computer was still on. *BEEP* The computer detected a hacker on top of the building of the team. "The hacker is here!" Alpha said. "Stupid place to be when you're being hunted." Kirb said. "Kirb if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have found the hacker. Now, come on, let's go find this hacker." Zetto said. "We have to use the stairs, My job is t-" "To help people in need, WE GOT IT." Kirb interrupted Nylocke. "Of course, for I am-" 'Here we go... AGAIN' Kirb thought. "_NYLOCKE! DRAGON OF REPETITIVE PHRASES!_" Nylocke yelled. "Alright, enough. Let's go." Alpha said. Alpha re-attached the batteries to the city and went toward the stairs. "Shit! The fire is blocking the stairs! Kirbopher said. Just then, the building shook massively, startling everyone. "Hurry, we don't have much time." Kirbopher said.

TOME CONTROL CENTER:

"Jesus!" A worker said. "Boss, there's a virus alert in ;Mechcity." The worker said. "All the players in TOME are panicking, apparently a building is under attack." "What? It's a hacker's doing, I know it." The boss said. "Contact the Webmaster, we have to notify him." The boss said. "I think he knows already, he's sending monitoring police programs to check the situation." "Well, let's send more programs then!" "Uh, boss you may wanna see this." Another worker said. "What?" "A hacker is ON the building, We are positive that this is the crook." "Perfect, send them to the building then."

MECHCITY:

Everyone arrived to the stairs, they all noticed cracks on the walls. "WE HAVE TO HURRY DAMMIT!" Kirbopher yelled. "WE'RE GOING!" Zetto yelled back. Flamey noticed that the cracks not the walls spread. Then, they all noticed that the roof was slowly tilting a bit. "Shit! This shit's going to collapse!" Alpha said as they ran to where they originally were before. The top floor's support beams (48th floor to the 45th floor) collapsed, but the building was not completely destroyed, the 3 top floors were leaning on a side, nearly killing the whole team. "AH!" Kirbopher screamed as he nearly was crushed by the roof. "DAMMIT! We have to get to the top floor!" Kirb yelled. "We'll have to find anothe-" Kirbopher looked outside the window and got an idea. "We'll have to climb the building from the outside." Kirbopher said. "WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY?" Alpha yelled. "No, just trying to find a way out." Kirb said. "Come on, we have to get out, NOW." Everybody followed the swordsman as he showed off his new sword. Kirbopher grabbed his sword hilt, extended the blade and destroyed the window. *CRASH* Glass flew everywhere, making Kirb stand back. He put his sword away and carefully left the floor. "Oh... SHIT." Kirbopher said. "Come on!" Kirbopher said. "Oh, damn." Alpha said. Alpha left the floor and grabbed hold of the window supports, trying to climb like Kirbopher. Soon, everyone was climbing the side of the building, trying not to fall. "I believe you should thank me." Kirbopher said playfully. "Oh shut up." Alpha said playfully as well. "Come on, we're near the top." Kirb said. A player recorded the team climbing up the buidling, not only was it brave of them, but some players thought it looked really cool. Kirbopher then reached the rooftop, he used extreme strength to get himself to the top, and he then helped everyone up. "Come on GC get up!" Kirb said. 'Alright, who will I help ne-' Kirb was thinking until he noticed he grabbed Flamey's hand. "Mh!" Kirbopher let out. 'Just help her up!' Kirbopher thought as he blushed. Kirbopher held onto her hand and helped her the most, he used more strength than he ever did before. He blushed madly when he finally got her up on the roof. "*GASP* Damn... What a work out!*Breathe*" Kirbopher said. "Hey Kirb, *Breathe* thanks man, you really helped us. *Breathe*" Alpha said. "I believe we are a new team Kirb." Flamey said. Kirbopher then had that feeling again, but different this time, it felt even STRONGER this time. "There you guys are, what took you guys so long?" A mysterious player asked.

TOME CONTROL CENTER:

"Boss! The team caught up with the hacker!" The worker said. "You told them the hacker was there?" "No, they tied the city batteries to Tracker A and Tracker B to find the hacker." "I guess they're on their own for now." The boss said.


	6. New Team Means New Skills

_April 12th, 2020_

MECHCITY:

"YOU AGAIN?!" Kirbopher yelled in anger. "What do you mean 'again'? You should know that THE. BEST. PLAYER in this game would come back after getting my furry butt kicked!" The hacker said. "Ugh... Rockoon." Alpha said.

TOME CONTROL CENTER:

"Boss! We have identified the hacker as 'Rockoon'." A worker said. "Try banning him." The boss said. "Not working! He hacked the banning system, so as long as he's logged in, he can't be banned." Another worker said. "Shit..." The boss said as he looked stressed "Uh, you okay boss?" "Yeah! I'm alright! I'm just fine while a freaking HACKER can fuck up the whole server while I'm just 'fine' here! OF COURSE I'M NOT FINE! WORK ALL YOUR ASSES NOW DAMMIT!" The boss left to the other room to notify other workers.

MECHCITY:

Rockoon threw a bomb towards Kirbopher, but he slashed it in two pieces and threw it of the building. Nylocke threw his ice-sword at Rockoon and damaged him, but then Rockoon used his hurricane-style attack and fought Nylocke back. "This rodent has gained strength over the time he's been absent from this wondrous land!" Nylocke said. " HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU? I'M NOT A R-" Flamey then threw fire at Rockoon's back, severely burning him. "AYYY! OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOOOOW!" Rockoon screamed. Alpha threw his trademark "Orion Shield" at Rockoon and attacked him. Rockoon faked some pain and surprise-attacked Kirbopher with a strong punch to the face, causing Kirb to bleed a little more. "AH!" Kirbopher let out. "IT'S TIME FOR PAYBACK!" Rockoon yelled as he nearly clawed Kirb but he was interrupted by Flamey when she used a meteor-like attack towards Rockoon. "You okay?" Flamey asked. "Y-Yeah..." Kirbopher said while blushing a bit. 'Stop Kirb, you have a hacker to take care of.' Kirbopher thought. Rockoon then ran towards Gamecrazed and attacked him. Gamecrazed was being attacked by Rockoon, but he used the "Drain-Edge" which absorbs power when defended with. Finally, Gamecrazed absorbed enough energy and threw a powerful shockwave at Rockoon. "AHH!" Rockoon screamed. Zetto then used his machine gun and shot at at the raccoon. Nylocke took advantage of this and attacked Rockoon from behind. "You may have acquired more strength rodent, but we have too as a team! For I... _Nylo_-" "I'M NOT A RODENT! READ A BOOK!" Rockoon interrupted Nylocke with rage. "That means that since we're a new team, we have new skills." Apha said. 'Now's my chance! He's distracted!' Kirb thought. Kirbopher then used "Elec-Disint" at Rockoon. Rockoon was hit by the beam and was severely damaged. "AAHHHH!" Rockoon screamed in pain. "Wow! You updated huh Kirb?" Alpha asked. "Yeah, my powers and my body, it also explains my new sword." Kirb said. "You've got some funky moves marshmallow man! But you ain't ready for THIS!" Rockoon spawned about a little more than 10 bombs and placed them on the roof of the building they were fighting on. "TAKE OUT THE BOMBS!" Kirb yelled. "This rodent likes to cause severe destruction throughout TOME! I shall not let that happen!" Nylocke said as he threw many ice shards on all the bombs before they landed on the building. All the bombs exploded without destroying the building even more. "You guys are no fun... at ALL." Rockoon said. Alpha used "Vulcan Fist" at Rockoon, sending him near the edge of the building. Rockoon looked behind him, and then looked back with a smile. "What's so funny?" Alpha asked. "Oh, nothing, it's just that this edge can be used to my advantage." Rockoon then used his tornado move, grabbed Flamey and threw her off the building. "NO!" Kirbopher yelled. Kirbopher jumped after her as time seemed to slow down. 'Why am I doing this?' Kirbopher thought. Time sped up again and he caught up to Flamey. Kirb grabbed her hand and thought of an escape plan. "ZETTO! HELP US UP!" Zetto then used his grappling arm to save them. Kirb then noticed that chains held the arm. "Flamey! Climb the chain!" Kirb said as he struggled to get her up. Flamey did as Kirb said and limbed the chains, which made chain shake. "W-Wow!" Kirb said as he held on to the shaky chain. The chain was so shaky that it sent Kirb towards to building's glass, which Kirb broke open by crashing into it, and giving Kirb many cuts. "AHH!" Kirbopher screamed. "RAISE THE CHAINS ZET!" Flamey screamed as she saw Kirb get hurt. Zetto then raised the grappling hook, and helped them up.

TOME CONTROL CENTER:

The boss was monitoring the battle through virtual cameras, wanting to see what the hacker did. "Oh... Shit!" The boss said. "He demolished the thing! It'll take months to reprogram!" He said. "The Webmaster's sending more programs to check what's going on." A worker said. "We all know what's going on, we just need to STOP IT!" The boss yelled. The worker ran back to the office he worked in, and the boss kept watching. He noticed something weird. "Is that... Kirbopher? But headlines in TOME said he was fired from the team!" He said.

MECHCITY:

Zetto helped Flamey and Kirbopher up the roof of the building, all of them gasping for air because of all the strength they used. "*Gasp* Damn, this... hurts..." Kirb said. Alpha, Nylocke, and Gamecrazed were protecting Kirb, Zetto, and Flamey because they knew they were in exhausting pain. "Tha- *Inhales lightly* Thanks Kirb..." Flamey said. He blushed madly, and then realized something. 'Oh shit...' He thought. He finally realized it, he liked her, Kirbopher liked Flamey, he wanted to be with her. "W-Welcome." He said to Flamey. 'I like her? How?' He thought. "Kirb, you did an awesome job." Zetto said. "How? You saved us?" Kirb asked. "Well, you had the idea of jumping after Flamey, and then telling me to use my grappling hook. That was a brave move." "Hey guys! Save the hugs and kisses for later! We gotta hacker here!" Alpha said. "Oh! Yeah... Right!" Kirb said. The team then fought Rockoon until he was deleted, and banned him. After that, the team climbed down the building and left it.


	7. Take a Break

_April 12th, 2020_

MECHCITY:

The virtual police went to all the players that left the building that was recently destroyed, asking them questions like; "Did you see who caused the explosion?" "Are you injured?" "What was the hacker's name?" Kirbopher and the team left the building, they had recently fought and banned the hacker who caused this. A Virtual police had ran to them to ask them questions. Kirbopher was annoyed by these things, they were useless! He told everyone not to answer to the virtual police because he was so annoyed. They all left the area of the building and sat on a bench near the entrance of ;Sanctuary. Kirbopher noticed he was near Flamey, which he now knew he liked, _really_ liked. Those feelings he had before were really strong now that he knew he liked her. The swordsman bit his lip, hiding his face from everyone. He was glad that no one noticed him, he didn't want anyone to know, not even Flamey. "Hark! Squire Kir-bo-pher! Are you alright young one?" Nylocke asked. "I'm not a squire!" Kirbopher grumbled. Kirbopher's friends stared at him with a lot of disbelief. "I-I'm alright." Kirbopher said. "I don't know, you seem to be acting kind of weird." Zetto said. "I'm fine!" Kirbopher said. "O...kay then..." Zetto said. "Hey Kirb, thanks again for showing up to the building, we would have probably been hacked by Rockoon." Alpha said. "No biggie, I just went there to check my old cubicle." Kirbopher said. Alpha felt bad for Kirbopher, he guessed he went there to see if it was Zetto's or not. This hurt Flamey even more, she didn't know why, but she cared for him even more. "Well, it was pretty convenient to have you around when the building exploded! Thanks Kirb, We all owe you one." Flamey said. Kirbopher blushed, trying not to show it. "Y-Your welcome..." Kirbopher said shyly. Kirbopher looked up at the sky and noticed that it was getting dark. TOME had a really neat time system, if it was morning in the real world, it was morning in TOME, and if it was night in the real world, it was night in TOME. If a player wanted to see day instead of night, he or she could go to the settings and could give the player the illusion that it was day. Kirbopher hadn't thought, he preferred real time so he could see when to stop playing the game. "My playtime's over kiddies, see ya later guys." Kirbopher said. "Bye." Said everyone almost in synch. Kirbopher then logged out.

REAL WORLD:

Chris was tired after a long time of playing the game, but he sure was happy that he could rid of the hackers with his friends, It's like he got his job again, without the money. Chris was still worried about the person he liked though. Chris sighed, he couldn't get over her, he liked her now, she was his distraction. "God dammit." He said. He still thought about her, he wondered what she looked like in the real world, he really wondered. 'She said she was from california.' He thought. 'Like any girl, she probably has long hair, and I don't know why, but I think she is a brunette.' He thought. He decided he'd watch some TV so he could think about something else. He put on the news channel, and it was talking about what happened in TOME that afternoon. Chris saw what the building looked like, how destroyed it was, and he was shocked. "Jesus." He said. The 43rd floor collapsed, making the top floors lean at a certain angle. Fire filled the rooms of the building and tons of black smoke rose up from the broken windows of the building. "That'll take MONTHS to re-program." Chris said to himself. He looked for things to watch on television, but found nothing. He checked the time, 9:07 PM. He put a coat on and left the apartment room. He went to eat at a restaurant somewhere, and on the way, he saw a girl that reminded him of Flamey, but the girl didn't look like the character Flamey made, but what Chris thought she would look like in real life. He walked away quickly to get his mind off of Flamey. He then saw a homeless man on the streets. Chris felt really bad, so he gave him quarters, then he realized something. In real life, he was calm, nice. In the virtual world he was always impatient and rude. The reason why is that he thought that being a goody-two-shoes in a game would get people making fun of him and he would get no friends, so acting stuck up in a game would get people to think he's a part of them. Chris then thought of all the players in TOME he mistreated, he felt really bad. He then found a restaurant and ate food. He arrived home at 11:56 PM and checked his computer. He remembered that the TOME website displays people's accounts, and even their real name. "Hmm." Chris typed the name "Flamey" on the search engine and found her account. He pressed her icon and checked her profile.

USERNAME: Flamey

REAL NAME: Stephanie

GENDER: Female

AGE: *Hidden*

The first thing he did was look at her real name. 'Stephanie...' He thought. 'Really cool name.' He then noticed her age. it wasn't showing. 'Hidden? Why is she hiding her age?' Chris thought. 'I show my age, there's nothing wrong with it!' He then checked her friends list. Saturndiva, Whity, Alpha, Gamecrazed, Nylocke, the list goes on. Of course, he didn't find his username there, he wasn't shocked, he knew they weren't friends. But now, he wanted her as a friend so bad. He decided it was time to go to sleep. He closed his computer, changed, and went to bed.

_April 13th, 2020_

Chris woke up thinking of what he should do for that day. He ate breakfast, brushed his teeth, and got dressed. He laid on his couch, looking out at the bright blue sky. He thought that he should disconnect for a little, let go of TOME for the day. "No one cares if I'm there or not, so I'll take a day off." He said. He thought he should go somewhere today, somewhere fun. He thought of leaving the apartment and wanted to find a place. He checked his computer to see if any place came to his mind.

MECHCITY:

It was morning in the real world and in TOME, and Flamey walk around ;Mechcity, wondering about Kirbopher. She wondered if he was okay, she noticed he was acting weird around her. He didn't talk to her much, even before he was acting weird, they talked more, and usually the conversations were fights. *BEEP* *BEEP* Flamey received a message from Alpha, then she read it. Alpha wrote to Flamey saying that the team wanted to meet, but that Kirbopher wasn't logged on. She noticed that he was right, they couldn't meet up if he wasn't there. And Kirb was now working as a vigilante, so they kind of needed him. She had to message him, hoping he was at least the TOME website. She wondered where he was.

REAL WORLD:

Chris always kept two tabs open on his computer, one on TOME and another one in any website he wanted. He usually kept the TOME tab around to receive messages from his friends. He was looking for a place to go for the day, until he received a message. It was from Flamey, saying that they had to meet up in ;Mechcity. He sighed at this, he wanted to take a day off of TOME, but then he wondered why they had to meet up in TOME. He then remembered that he was a vigilante in TOME. He replied; (Alright, I'll be there.) Chris connected himself to the game and logged on.

MECHCITY:

He spawned where he last logged off, near the entrance for ;Sanctuary. He walked to ;Mechcity in search of his team.

_5 Minutes later..._

Kirbopher found the team and walked towards them. Alpha noticed that Kirb looked a little depressed for some reason. "Hey Kirb, can we talk in private?" Alpha said. "Huh? Yeah... Sure..." He said. Kirb and Alpha sat on a bench and talked for a bit. "So, what's goin' on with you? You seem... sad!" Alpha said. "That? It's nothing." "Come on! Tell me!" "No man, it's personal." "I swear I won't tell anyone!" Kirb bit his lip, and then let it out. "DON'T TELL ANY THIS, GOT IT?" He said. "Ok! Ok!" "I... like Fl-amey." Alpha stood there surprised at Kirb. He was amazed that Kirbopher liked Flamey. "Y-You like Flamey?" Alpha asked, quite shocked. "Y-Yeah..." Alpha sat on the nearest rock, he was really shocked. He couldn't ever think that KIRBOPHER, the boy who picked on Flamey, would ever like her. "*Chuckle*" Alpha let out. Kirbopher was looking down, but looked at Alpha when he chuckled. "*Snicker* He let out, also. "What's so funny?" Kirbopher asked. "N-Nothi- *Chuckle*" "Wait a min- What the fuck? You're... laughing?" Alpha then fell on the floor laughing so hard. He felt happy for Kirb, but he sure liked to play with him. "My lil' Kirbs is all grown up!" He said. "S-SHUT UP!" Kirbopher said showing embarrassment. "Just kidding man! I'm definitely okay with that! Why wouldn't I be?" "A-Alright, but DON'T tell anyone this! Ok?" "Ok! Ok... I won't." Kirbopher and Alpha walked back to the team trying to hide the fact that Kirbopher had just told him a very big secret. "Alright, so, what did you guys want to talk about?" Kirbopher asked. "Well, we were going to discuss about that attack on the building yesterday." Flamey said. Kirbopher blushed a little, but hid it, thankfully no one saw it. "Ok, so what's the news?" He asked. "Well, we found out that Rockoon was working for a hacking team." Zetto said. "A team? Of course, just ONE player couldn't come up with the idea of attacking a public building like that, that's just downright virtual terrorism." "Well, that's actually pretty close. Oh, and from now on, we gotta keep our eyes peeled, for anyone that looks suspicious." "Right." Alpha was listening to the conversation, but then his eyes rolled over to Kirb, then Flamey, and then he slightly chuckled. He couldn't believe that Kirbopher, the boy that picked on Flamey AND had a rivalry with her, actually liked her now, he sure was surprised. "Now, for a while now, this game has had problems with some gangs going around lately, and even IF they seem weak, be sure to be careful around any of 'em." "Alright, we will." "Although, we, as a team, should be close when roaming TOME, our friendship AND defense are strong, and these two together, will show ever player in the Terrain of Magical Expertise that friendship powers a team!" "Riiiiiiight... I see Ny's point, but when we split up, we'll get bigger chances if seeing if there are any hackers around TOME." "Or, we could stick together, and send other teams to check the rest of TOME." "Man, sure is a bummer that the building completely lost power, we could've found hackers WAY easier if the building still worked." "Well, improvisation helped a few astronauts up in the Apollo missions, so it'll definitely help us." "Ok, I guess." The team was dismissed, and Kirbopher sat on a rock. Flamey walked the opposite direction, which gave Kirb the opportunity to watch her walk away. Alpha, of course, noticed this. He smiled and walked away. 'What have I gotten myself into?' He thought.


	8. I'm Gonna Live Till I Die

_April 13th, 2020_

REAL WORLD:

Chris kind of liked the improvisation the team came up with on TOME. He thought about it for a while, and the more he thought about it, for some reason it made him happy. What made him happy anyway? Was it being with his friends? The team maybe? 'Oh' He thought. Of course. It was Flamey. He was going to spend more time with his big "Love". He sure was glad, but he knew that he had to let Flamey know that he liked her, which made him feel down. He wanted to feel up, not down. Chris then thought of singing, he remembered that he liked songs that made him feel strong, so he looked for songs that sounded inspiring on the internet. He eventually found a Frank Sinatra song called "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" He listened to it, and immediately, the song was in his head. He hummed it, sung it, and listened to it over and over again. He felt like he could do anything, he felt like doing something at that moment, so then he played TOME some more. He turned on the game, connected himself to TOME, and played for a while.

MECHCITY:

Kirbopher walked down the streets of ;Mechcity humming the song with his singing voice, which caught the attention of many. He sent Alpha an message asking where they were, or where they should meet up, all while whistling that song. Alpha sent; (Already? I thought you were taking a break? Whatever, we are at the park, meet us there.) Then Kirbopher sent; (Alright, on my way to the park) Kirbopher started walking to the park while still whistling the song. That song sure made him happy. He later met up with the team, everyone looking surprised at him. Everyone noticed that he was happy, which was the complete opposite of what he was an hour ago. What could've made him happy? 'Maybe Flamey?' Alpha thought. 'No.' He thought again. He realized that even when he was around Flamey before, he wasn't happy at all. "Hey guys. D'you see anything new?" Kirb asked. "Nothin'. At all." Zetto said. "We reckon they're hiding somewhere in the TOME, though we sent teams to search for 'em." Alpha said, trying to hide his confusion. "Well, we should check this whole city to make sure. Maybe they're even logged off." "Actually, Zetto has been telling me that some shit's going on in ;Lavendera, we should go check it out." Gamecrazed said. "Alright then, let's go." Kirbopher said. The team headed for ;Lavendera to search for this hacker, maybe they could've caught the person that was part of the hacking team that attacked the building.

LAVENDERA:

"Keep your eyes open." Zetto said. "We're gonna have to split up to see if the hacker is here, and if we do find him or her, make a signal." Zetto demonstrated the signal, it was a whistle, and it reminded Kirb of the song he whistled on the way to meet the team. "Ok, let's go." The team split up and walked through all of ;Lavendera to find this supposed "hacker". Kirbopher whistled the song while looking for the hacker, he wanted to feel strong if he found him or her, but eventually, he heard the signal. Everyone ran to where they heard the signal, and found Alpha hiding behind a rock. "Where is he?" Gamecrazed asked. "I found four guys actually, I had to come back here so they wouldn't find me." "So, are you SURE they're the hackers?" Kirbopher asked. "Yeah, I'm sure, I heard them talking about hacking, and it seems they're planning something, now let's go." Everybody followed Alpha and found the hackers, while hiding behind a rock. "So, how do we strike?" Alpha whispered to Zetto. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out." Zetto said. Kirbopher thought for a second, and had an idea. "I got an idea, stay here until I give a signal." Kirbopher stood up and showed himself to the hackers. All the hackers noticed Kirbopher and gave a signal to get out, but Kirbopher refused. "And what are you stinking rats up to?" Kirbopher asked. "I'm pretty sure it's no good." He said again. The team stood behind the rock confused. "What the heck is he doing?" Alpha asked. "I don't know, but it looks like fun." Flamey said. "Bugger off boy." One hacker said. "Why, you should watch your language boy, your mother would be rather mad!" "You better shut up boy, or I'll beat your jaw out of ya." "Well, how about this, I'm here to propose a fight, me and my friends." "Yeah? You and what friends?" "These friends." Kirbopher gave the signal and the team moved behind the rocks. The hackers were clearly outnumbered. "If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you get." The leader pulled out pocket knife and sprung the blade. "Let's get 'em boys!" The hacker yelled.

TOME CONTROL CENTER:

"Hey boss, I think we found some hackers!" A worker said. "Where?" The boss asked. "In ;Lavendera, you want me to check the cameras?" "Sure, let's see." All of the control center watched the footage in shock.

LAVENDERA:

The hackers ran towards the team, and tried attacking. The lead hacker jumped at Kirbopher, but Kirb grabbed him by his waist, threw him back, and then kicked him. Alpha threw a punch in another hacker then used vulcan fist on his stomach. Flamey threw clouds of fire in one hacker, which made him scream in pain, then Zetto attacked the third hacker by using his gun on his metal arm and firing. Finally, Nylocke was fighting off the last hacker with his ice powers, but then the hacker fought back hard, knocking Nylocke down, that's when Gamecrazed defended Nylocke by using his "Drain-Edge" to absorb power and attack. The lead hacker got back up, tripped Kirbopher, punched Kirbopher in the face a six times, then stepped on him numerous times. Alpha tackled the hacker that was attacking Kirbopher, then punched him many times. "Thanks!" Kirbopher said as he ran to another hacker. "Welcome!" Alpha said back. Kirbopher pulled out his sword hilt and sprung the blade out. Kirbopher slashed the second hacker's arm, causing him to bleed badly. Flamey threw fireballs at the hacker's arm (The one cut by Kirbopher) and gave him a punch to finish him off. Zetto was being attacked by a hacker carrying a wooden cane as a weapon. Kirbopher jumped onto his back and held on to him like if it was a piggyback ride. Kirbopher then threw him down, flipped him over and elbowed him, which caused the hacker to drop his cane. Kirbopher stared at it, then picked it up. One hacker down, three to go. Nylocke slashed one hacker and finished him off. Gamecrazed attacked the last two hackers and threw them to the ground. Kirbopher stood on top of one, and used his new cane to beat the hacker. But then Alpha heard something. It sounded like footsteps running their direction. "Administrators are here!" Alpha yelled, which alarmed Kirbopher. Kirbopher gave the signal to get the attention of the team. "We gotta get lost! Split up and run off!" He yelled. Everyone split up and ran off to different directions. The team left two out of four hackers, and the two remaining ones had bruises everywhere, one had a bloody nose while the other one had cuts blood almost everywhere because of Kirbopher. The team was hurt badly too, they were all bleeding pretty bad. Kirbopher ran to ;Sanctuary and found a good hiding spot, just in case any Administrator found him and accused him of hurting those hackers, but it was for good cause.

SANCTUARY:

Kirbopher sat down feeling bruises in his back, face, and arms. He had a bloody nose, some cuts on his face and one cut on his lip, blood running down his face, staining his clothes. He was in pain, but he was happy. It had felt like he never had fun with his friends in years, and it only was a few days. He thought of that song again, rather than thinking of Flamey again. He hummed the song for the remainder of the time he spent on the game.

REAL WORLD:

Chris turned off the game, still kind of feeling the pain in his head. Chris stretched and laid on his bed. "Damn! What a fun day!" He said. He stood up, and checked his computer. He went on the TOME website and read the headlines.

**HACKERS FOUND BADLY BEATEN ON ;LAVEDERA REGION.  
Two hackers were said to be plotting an attack until a player showed up and challenged them to a fight. There were fours hackers at first, but then after the fight was over, two of them remained. Both hackers were found badly bruised and bleeding.**

Chris was a little worried, he thought that they might've found out he was with the team and his account might have been suspended. He then received a message from Zetto. It said; (Hey man, can you log back on? We have to talk.) Chris then wrote; (I'll be there) and sent the message back. He turned the game on and logged on.

MECHCITY:

Kirbopher met on the team's usual meeting spot. But what made him confused was that only Zetto was there. "Hey Zet." Kirbopher said. "Hey Kirb." He said back. Both players noticed they were each still beat up, with blood on their face and clothes, and bruises and cuts on their faces. "Where's the team?" Kirbopher asked. "It's just us right now." "Ok... So, what's up?" "Well," Zetto started. "Earlier today, when we fought the hackers, I noticed you were giving a lot of orders." Kirbopher knew what he meant. "Oh, that? Sorry about that, I was in the spirit." "Don't say sorry, just don't let it happen again." Kirbopher was puzzled. Zetto seemed frustrated, and sounded threatening. "Hey, what gives?" Kirbopher asked. "What gives?" Zetto grabbed Kirbopher by his suit and held him up. "Remember this, I'M the leader, not you, nor Alpha. And what makes it even better is that you're not even part of the team, you were FIRED. I'M YOUR REPLACEMENT. Got it?" Kirbopher was a bit scared, but mostly shocked. "OK! I GOT IT!" Kirbopher yelled. Zetto threw him to the ground lightly, but it still hurt him. Flamey caught sight of this, she was luckily near them. "HEY!" She yelled. "What's going on?" She asked. Zetto looked at her with a serious face. "Nothing, just a disagreement." Zetto said said he walked away. "Flamey turned to Kirbopher and helped him up. "What happened?" She asked. Kirbopher blushed slightly, but the blood on his face hid it. "Well, in the fight today, I..." Zetto stared at him with a face. "I was giving orders like if I was leader, which I didn't mean to." "Yeah?" "And Zetto said that he's my replacement, he even said that he was the leader, not Alpha." "He did?" "Y-Yeah, he did." "Alright, I'll talk to him. Se ya." "Bye..." Flamey walked towards Zetto and talked to him. Kirbopher stood up, still a little scared, and walked away. He noticed he was still carrying the cane he collected from the hacker. He decided he would give his character another update, another handle on the opposite side of his new sword, a handle for his new cane. He went to look for a healer to fix up his cuts and bruises. He would also have to wash his suit, which he fired the others did already. He went to wash his suit on a cleaning stand, TOME was filled with these, it was for players who wanted to clean their character's suits if it was dirty, and Kirbopher's suit was filled with blood.

_Later..._

Kirbopher had gone to a healer, and washed his suit on the cleaning stand, it was a long day for him. It was very fun at first, but it took a weird turn, he now felt scared. With the news about the hackers being beaten by a group, it seemed that they knew it was him, now he had to hide from any administrators. He also was kind of scared of Zetto now, he seemed more threatening. Kirbopher felt sad again, but then. "I'm gonna live, till I die!" He sang. He walked all TOME singing the song, which made him feel up, like it always did.

_**I'm Gonna Live Till I**_** Die!**


End file.
